Machine for coating sheet-material



a M 2 0 r 4 V 1 W L m a/ m T Mum M o LG mw .AM wm FF E m H C A M Jan.16, 1934.

Patented Jan. 16, 1&34

YATES ATEN'E Charles (D. Kilham, Beverly, Mass,

assigncr to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., acorporation of New Jersey Application May 10, 1930. Serial No. 451,451

'7 Claims.

This invention concerns the coating of sheetmaterial, and especiallythat which has its margins beveled or otherwise made thinner than thebody of the sheet.

Machines of the char cter described in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates No. 1,656,346, Cosgrove, January 17, 1928, are designed tooperate upon material in the form of sheets, of which the opposite facesare substantially parallel throughout. Work is sometimes encounteredwhich, instead of having such parallel faces, is thinner at the margins.We find an example of such material in rubber soles for shoes, whichsoles have peripheral bevels at the tread When such soles are freshlycut, the face which is to be cemented to the insol may be plane; but, asthey age, the margin tends to curl toward the beveled side, makin itdifficult to apply cement properly to this thin, distorted margin. Anobject of the present invention is to coat, in a substantially uniformmanner, an entire face of sheets having such reduced margins.

To this end, and in accordance with a feature of the invention, Iprovide apparatus in which, in the illustrated embodiment of theinvention,

' an applying roll, with its applying surface concaved longitudinally ofthe axis of rotation substantially throughout its length, dips in fluidin a receptacle for a coating substance, and has cooperating with it arotatable pressure roll with its surface oppositely curved and henceconvex. In the use of this apparatus, one face of a sheet is stretchedmore than the opposite face, and a coating is applied to the face. suchas the larger face of a sole with peripheral bevels, which is undergreater tension. Such stretching draws the thin margin toward thecoating instrumentality, rendering the surface fully accessible. Thusthe sheet is so stretched that it becomes convex upon the face to becoated and it is simultaneously coated by pressing it against theconcave surface of the roll which has been supplied with a coatingsubstance, the thin edges being coated way to the edge.

Because of the departure of the rolls from cylindrical form, theiroperating surfaces have different peripheral speeds at different pointsalong their lengths. If the work is inserted b tween the rolls at oneside of the center, this difference in the rate of rotation of thesurfaces contacting with it tends to move its longitudinal axisangularly. This acts to carry the work too far to the opposite side,where the angular position is reversed, it consequently traveling in anirregular path, which interferes with the proper application of thecoating. I prevent such action 1 by forming one of the rolls insections, rotating one of these sections and leaving the associatedsections free to turn relatively thereto. The element thus sectioned ispreferably the pressure roll, the central section which is ofsubstantially uniform diameter being shown as driven, as by attachmentto a shaft, while the associated secticns of different diameter are freeto move at the same rate as the contacting surface of the work. As aconsequence of this relation, the advancing force positively applied bythe driven central section acts in a substantially uniform manner acrossthe portion of the sheet with which it contacts and no retarding effectis produced on the free end portion so that the path of the sheet ismaintained straight.

The improved method which may be carried out, for example, by theabove-referred to apparatus has not been claimed herein since it formsthe subject-matter of a divisional application Serial No. 655,368, filedFebruary 6, 1933.

The accompanying drawing illustrates, in Fig. 1, a single embodiment ofmy invention in broken side elevation; Fig. 2 is a transverse section onthe line II II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing, on an enlarged scale, a portion ofthe sole and the rolls, as in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-section through a rubber sole the edges ofwhich have curled from their original shape, which latter is shown indotted lines.

For the general construction of the present apparatus and for certaindetails which have no particular bearing upon my invention, referencemay be had to the previously mentioned patent. A tank or receptacle 10,adapted to contain the cement or other coating substance to be applied,has journaled in its side walls a horizontal shaft 12 for a rotatableapplying roll 14, the lower portion of which lies in the containedadhesive. The applying surface of this roll is preferably concave, beinggradually curved longitudinally of its periphery from ends of maximumdiameter to a reduced central portion. The roll is rotated, in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 of the drawing, byconnections at 16 through a counter-shaft 1'7 to a motor, and issupplied with work-pieces over a table or conveyor 18, the coated piecesbeing removed by a conveyor 20 at the opposite side of the roll 14.

To hold the work in contact with the roll 14 during the coatingoperation, and to aid in its advance, an upper pressure-roll 22 isrotatable about the axis of a shaft 24 parallel to and vertically alinedwith the shaft 12. The shaft 24 is journaled in sidearms of a frame 26pivoted at 28, 28 upon a bridge 30 rising from the sides of andextending across the top of the tank. The roll 22 is convex, itslongitudinal curvature being substantially concentric to the surface ofthe roll 12. As illustrated, it is in three independent sections. Thatat the center, to which the numeral 22 has been applied, is fast uponthe shaft 24. The adjacent sections 32, 32, at its opposite sides, areloose upon the shaft. The ends of the sections operate in contact withone another, the convex surface of the roll 22 being thus practicallyunbroken. Extending upwardly from the frame 26, at opposite sides of thebridge, are two projections 34 and 36, the former having interposedbetween it and the bridge a spring 3'7, which exerts its forceconstantly to urge the roll 22 toward the applying roll 14. Threadedthrough the other projection is a screw 38, bearing at its innerextremity against the bridge. By differently positioning this screw, thenormal separation between the rolls may be varied, thus adapting theapparatus to operate to the best advantage upon sheets of differentthicknesses. The roll 22 is rotated oppositely t0 the roll 14, thecentral section having the same peripheral speed as such applying roll.This is accomplished by gearing 40 joining the shaft 24 to acountershaft 42 horizontally alined with the pivotal points 28 of theframe 26, and gearing 44 between said counter-shaft and the shaft 17.

In utilizing this apparatus to carry out my improved method, andassuming that rubber soles S beveled at 46 about their tread faces T areto be cemented, the operator feeds the work-pieces successively betweenthe oppositely rotating applying roll 14 and the pressure-roll 22 fromthe table 18, the face opposite the tread being down. As each sole isadvanced through the rolls by their rotation, the upper roll presses itinto the concavity of the applying roll, bowing it downwardly andoutwardly and stretching the lower face 48 transversely as the coatingis applied. This strain upon the material draws down the thin edge 50,so that, even if it is curled over toward the tread face T, as indicatedin Fig. 4, or is in an uneven wave form, the tension holds it firmlyagainst the applying surface, which will lay upon the lower face 48 asubstantially uniform coating extending to the very edge. If a soleenters the rolls at one side of their longitudinal centers, noappreciable retarding effect is produced by those more slowly rotatingperipheral portions of the pressure-roll which are of less diameter thanthe central portion, since the two outer sections 32, 32 are not drivenand can turn with the sole as it travels beneath them. The departure ofthe central driven portion of the roll 22 from cylindrical form is notsuflicient to impart to the workpieces an angular deflection, so theirtravel is along a substantially straight line. This freedom of theend-sections of the pressure-roll in no way impairs its ability tomaintain a proper contact of the surface being cemented with theapplying roll. The sole operated upon thus emerges from between therolls, upon the conveyor 20, with its entire lower face cemented.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a coating apparatus, coacting rolls one of which is concave andthe other of which is convex whereby a piece of work having bevelededges passed between the rolls is distorted and one face of the piece ofwork is stretched or tensioned more than the opposite face, and meansfor supplying coating material to the concave roll to coat only thatface of the piece of work which is under greater tension whereby thethin edges of the work, placed next to the concave roll,

will be drawn into contact with the applying surface.

2. In a coating apparatus, the combination with a receptacle for a fluidcoating substance,

of an applying roll rotatable in the receptacle and dipping in the fluidand having its applying surface concaved longitudinally of the axis ofrotation substantially throughout its length, and a rotatable pressureroll above the fluid 00- operating with the applying roll and having itssurface curved oppositely to that of said applying roll to press thewide surface of work with bevelled edges into the concavity of theapplying roll whereby the thin edges of the work are drawn into contactwith the applying roll.

3. In a coating apparatus, co'operating rotatable coating-applying andpressure rolls, a sup port one of said rolls on said support consistingof sections of different diameters, and means 1 for rotating a portionof the sections, the associated sections being mounted on said supportto turn freely relatively to the driven sections.

4. In a coating apparatus, a rotatable coatingapplying roll having itsapplying surface differing in diameter, a shaft, and a pressure roll onsaid shaft co-operating with and conforming to the applying roll, saidpressure roll consisting of independent sections, and means for rotatingone of said sections, the associated sections being free to turn on theshaft relatively to the driven section.

5. In a coating apparatus, co-operating rotatable applying and pressurerolls, the rolls having convex and concave surfaces for contact with thework, one of said rolls including independently rotatable sections ofdifferent diameters.

6. In a coating apparatus, a rotatable concave coating-applying roll, adriving shaft, a rotatable convex pressure roll on said shaftco-operating with the applying roll and including a central section andside-sections free to turn relatively to the central section, and meansfor rotating the central section.

7. In an apparatus for coating shoe-soles, the

combination with a receptacle for a coating substance, of a concaveapplying roll rotatable in the receptacle, a driving shaft, a convexpressure roll on said shaft rotatable above the receptacle andco-operating with the applying roll and having a central section fastupon the shaft, the 1 sections at each side of the central section beingfree to turn upon the shaft.

CHARLES O. KILHAM.

